This application is in the field of laser-based skin resurfacing apparatus and methods and relates to the lessening of skin overheating and skin damage during a so-called fractional treatment of the human skin tissue.
Attached to and forming a portion of the present specification is a computer program listing containing an exemplary listing of programming which may be used in connection with the method and apparatus of the present invention. The computer program listing is a copyrighted work owned by the assignee of the present invention and a copyright notice has been applied to the listing.
Prior art systems and methods include apparatus and methodologies for providing so-called fractional treatment to the human skin tissue using one of laser or other energy providing devices. These prior art systems may include systems and methods for providing one of or both of so-called ablative treatment and so-called non-ablative treatment.
In a typical prior art fractional treatment system, a number of treatment spots within a defined area of the human skin are made. These may be few as 25 going up to over 1000 treatment spots in a given defined area of the human skin tissue. The treatment spots may be delivered using a laser device which directs the laser beam in a so-called “scan” mode in a known manner. The treatment spots may be rectangular, square, circular or any shape that the laser is capable of making. Examples of prior art laser scanning devices are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,743,902, 5,938,657, 5,957,915, and 6,328,733, the entireties of which are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, fractional treatment systems and methods are disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 13/038773, filed Mar. 2, 2011, as well as application Ser. No. 13/314548, filed Dec. 8, 2011, the entireties of which are also incorporated herein by reference.
In the prior art systems for providing fractional treatment using a scanning laser device, it is known to provide a laser beam “shot” sequentially, that is, in a given matrix of, for example, a 5×5 square, sequentially providing a laser beam application in a raster like format. This is illustrated in
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method which avoids the deficiencies described above and yet provides sufficient fractional treatment to be efficacious for the patient.
In one aspect, a method is provided for fractional treatment to a skin tissue, in which the method comprises the steps of providing a laser apparatus for applying laser beam energy to the skin tissue, then selecting, on the laser apparatus, a matrix of laser beam energy application to the skin tissue having one or more of the attributes of: shape, size, energy and the density of application spots to the matrix on the skin tissue. Then the laser apparatus is activated in a manner so as to eliminate or at least minimize adjacent application spots sequentially receiving laser beam energy.
In another aspect, the matrix is in the form of an X by Y format and the application of laser energy is in a raster like format.
In yet another aspect, after an application spot has received laser energy, the laser apparatus skips N number of application spots prior to activating the next laser beam application.
Further, a system for providing fractional treatment to a skin tissue is disclosed. A laser device directs laser energy at the skin tissue of the patient. The laser device includes a controller to select a matrix of laser application spots on the skin tissue. The matrix may be selected to have one or more of the following attributes, including shape, size, energy and the density of application points to the matrix on the skin tissue. A controller controls the application of laser application spots so as to eliminate or at least minimize adjacent application spots sequentially receiving laser beam energy.
a-2c are illustrations of a fractional treatment embodying the inventions of the present application in a 5×5 matrix.
Turning now to
Turning now to
Turning now to
Turning now to
The present invention allows the laser operator to select the size of the area to be scanned on the skin surface as well as a spot density. Based upon the foregoing, the distance between the spots is determined. In addition, the operator can adjust the laser device parameters, such as the time duration of each laser pulse, spot size and the laser energy per pulse. Also, in the present invention, the operator may select the number of passes that the scanner needs to pass in order to apply laser energy to all spots in the pattern chosen. In the pattern shown in
As can be seen in reference to
Also, in an additional embodiment of the present invention, the system may allow and provide different types of pulses in each of the passes. For example, the operator may cause a controller to make a first pass of ablative energy which will form micro channels of a selected depth and width and then during the second pass or other subsequent pass may provide non-ablative energy application to that same spot or other spots. In this way, the system may create different combinations and distributions of treatments to obtain different tissue effects as desired by the operator.
As a part of the present specification, a computer program listing appendix has been included which illustrates one exemplary fashion of implementing the present invention. This computer program listing is written in C++ computer program language and may be implemented on a PC or other computer systems.
The present invention may be incorporated into a fractional treatment laser device which is programmable to provide fractional treatment of selected spots in different selected patterns, energy levels, etc. One such system is the M22 system which is available from Lumenis Ltd, of Yokneam, Israel, and the sequence of laser energy application described herein may be incorporated in a suitable computer software program or set of instructions on the M22 system or any other suitable system. The laser energy for the non-ablative laser treatment may be for example a YAG laser, a 1565 nm fiber laser, but may be of any other suitable wavelength device. The M22 system can, by way of example, encompass a 15 W laser which can deliver, for a 1 msec pulse width, 15 mJ of energy, or for a 5 msec pulse width, deliver 75 mJ of energy. The desire and aim in fractional treatment by laser beams is to deliver the desired energy to the skin tissue in the shortest amount of time so as to both provide effective treatment and reduce discomfort to the patient. The M22 may be programmed in a known manner to create a “skipping” sequence once the operator has inputted the number of spots, the density of the spots, the pulse width, etc. in an interactive manner. Alternatively, the M22 may contain one or more preprogrammed lookup tables to allow the operator to select a particular treatment from a list of available procedures. The M22 system is also available with an active cooling system contained in a tip of a handpiece that contacts the skin. Such cooling tips are known in the art. However, combining such a cooling tip with the “skipping” sequence as described herein allows further avoidance of overheating the skin tissue and permits the operator to safely apply more energy to each pulse than would be possible with the prior art of the type exemplified by
The present invention, which may be termed a “multipass” device, may, as discussed above, be used to non-randomly apply laser application points so as to avoid adjacent laser application points close in time and avoid applying laser energy to the same spot more than once. However, it may be desirable to apply laser energy to the same spots more than once if further treatment is deemed necessary.
While in the above discussion the fractional treatment is generally of the non-ablative type, the present invention may be applied to ablative fractional treatment. During known ablative fractional treatment, it may be necessary, once a channel has been formed in the skin surface in a known manner, to once again apply a laser beam to that same channel in order to deepen the depth of the channel or to provide a non-ablative energy to the bottom of the channel. In prior art systems, there exists the possibility of causing excess heat to be applied to the skin tissue, to the discomfort of the patient and possible unwanted thermal damage. With the present invention, the non-sequential application of laser beams to the surface will lessen discomfort and thermal damage due to the laser beams being applied in a manner such that the skin does not excessively heat up.
Having thus described at least one illustrative aspect of the invention, various alterations, modifications and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications and improvements are intended to be within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended as limiting. The invention's limit is is defined only in the following claims and equivalents thereto.
This application relates to and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 61/720789, filed Oct. 31, 2012, the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61720789 | Oct 2012 | US |